This is a crazy-easy and delicious dip that is great for any fun occasion. It is a staple with our friends and family.
1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
Combine all ingredients in a bowl, then put into a baking dish or gratin.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Serve with chips, crackers, or sliced bread.
From Shef's Kitchen
Shefaly Ravula "Indian Street Foods"
Serves 8 – 10
Prep time: 15 minutes plus time to make chutneys
Assembly: 5 minutes
1 14-oz. package of bhel mix (see notes below)
2 lb. red potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes, placed in a saucepan and covered with water
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
½ cup unripe raw mango, cut into ½ inch cubes (optional)
½ cup peanuts
3-4 roma tomatoes, chopped and seeded and drained on a paper towel
¼ cup chopped cilantro
¼ cup extra-fine sev (optional), called bhujia sev or fine sev
½ cup hot garlic chutney (see recipe below)
¾ cup cilantro chutney (see recipe below)
¾ -1 cup tamarind-date chutney (see recipe below)
Method:
1. Add a little salt to the water and boil potatoes until fork-tender. Drain well. Set aside.
2. Place bhel-mix in a large mixing bowl.
3. Before ready to serve, add potatoes, onions, peanuts, and mango, if using
4. Immediately before serving, add the tomatoes and chutneys, a little at a time.
5. Mix well with hands and serve onto individual plates.
6. Garnish with cilantro and extra-fine sev.
7. Serve immediately! Add more hot garlic or tamarind-date chutney to taste.
Notes:
Bhel mix can be found pre-packaged in an Indian grocery store. It will be in the snacks or spice aisle usually. Bhel mix is composed of generally 3 ingredients: mumraa (fried, lightly seasoned puffed rice), sev (thin crispy noodles made of chick-pea flour), and flaky crispy pieces of puri (deep-fried wheat flour chips). You can make your own bhel mix if you wish and these ingredients can be purchased separately.
I tend to use fried peanuts instead of roasted peanuts; you can deep fry your own raw peanuts or purchase them in the snack aisle of any grocery store.
Bhel-puri was originally a snack dish in the state of Gujarat, along the west coast of India and now it has become a mainstay of Mumbai street food. It’s a type of chaat (literally translates to “lick or taste”). Chaats are usually served as a snack, between lunch and dinner and sometimes served with chai. For most Indians or anyone else who has had chaat, the mere mention of the word starts the mouth watering and most of this is due to the flavorful chutneys in combination with the various textures within the chaat dish. Other kinds of chaats include sev-puri, dahi-puri, vada-pav, pav bhaji, ragada-patis, etc…. You can find some of these under the appetizer section on menus in restaurants around town.
For entertaining purposes, make all chutneys up to 3 days in advance. Keep all the other ingredients prepped the day of party. Serve all ingredients in individual bowls and let guests assemble themselves. You can have a chaat party! I would recommend telling guests to put about one teaspoonful of each chutney in the bhel except more of the sweet tamarind-date chutney (most people like about 2 teaspoons of that chutney).
Cilantro Chutney
From Shef's Kitchen
Shefaly Ravula "Indian Street Foods"
Makes 1 cup
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
¼ cup raw unsalted peanuts
1 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
½ serrano chili pepper, coarsely chopped, seeds and all
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped peeled gingerroot
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
½ cup water
Method:
1. Place peanuts in a blender or mini-chopper and grind to a medium-fine powder.
2. Transfer ground peanuts to a blender if you ground them in the mini-chopper.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend well, adding more water if necessary.
Notes:
This chutney is very versatile. You can use it as a spread as in a panini sandwich or in a cucumber tea sandwich. You can use it as a dipping sauce for samosas or papadums. You can use it as one of many chutneys/sauces used in traditional Indian street/snack foods such as chaat or bhel-puri.
You can freeze the chutney in small containers or ice cube trays. Just thaw it out in the refrigerator.
The peanuts add flavor and act as a thickener. You can substitute daliya (dry roasted chana dal) if you wish or if you are nut-allergic. Add fresh mint leaves for a refreshing summer chutney.
Tamarind Date Chutney
From Shef's Kitchen
Shefaly Ravula "Indian Street Foods"
Makes 2 cups
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
1 packed cup tamarind pulp (don’t worry if there are seeds)
2 cups water
1 cup chopped pitted dates (approx 20 dates)
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
Method:
1. Heat water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add tamarind pulp to hot water. Lower heat and cook for 10 minutes, breaking pulp with wooden spoon. Turn off heat.
2. Strain into a cup and discard pulp and seeds if there are seeds. You will be left with about 1 cup of tamarind water.
3. Place tamarind water back into saucepan. Turn heat to medium-low. Add chopped dates.
4. Add chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, and salt. Stir well, slightly mashing dates with wooden spoon.
5. Cook 10 minutes. The mixture will slowly reduce and begin to look like a chutney
6. Turn off heat. Pour mixture into blender or mini food processor and blend, adding water as needed, up to 1 cup.
7. Add brown sugar to taste. (The addition of this depends on the sweetness and variety of your dates).
8. Serve with roasted papadums, samosas, chaat, or pakoras, or in a peanut-butter sandwich!
Notes:
This chutney is traditionally made with jaggery instead of brown sugar. Jaggery is a wonderful mellow-tasting raw unrefined sugar made directly from sugarcane. Dark brown sugar is a good substitution.
Tamarind concentrate could be substituted for the pulp to save time, but the flavor won’t be as fruity and pure as it is with using the pulp. Tamarind pulp can be purchased at Asian or Indian grocery stores.
For a very short shortcut, you could use 2 tablespoons of tamarind concentrate dissolved in 1 cup warm water. Blend this with a 16 oz. jar of apple butter (yes apple butter!). Add the above listed chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, and salt and you have a fairly good and tasty substitute!
Hot and Spicy Garlic Chutney
From Shef's Kitchen
Shefaly Ravula "Indian Street Foods"
Makes 1 cup
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
20-25 peeled garlic cloves
1 small red bell pepper, chopped coarsely
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped peeled gingerroot
¼ cup raw unsalted peanuts
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder, such as Kashmiri chili powder
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Method:
Blend all ingredients in a blender or a mini-chopper, adding water as necessary to make it a pourable consistency (about ½ cup).
Notes:
This chutney keeps for a week in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
Paprika is added mostly to deepen the red color.
Any Indian chili powder will do; Kashmiri chili powder is milder and has a brighter red color. You don’t need much in this recipe because the raw garlic provides heat.
Copyright Shefaly Ravula
This chutney from India is absolutely wonderful. Its flavors are as vibrant and bright as its color. This makes a great condiment for meats, cheeses, sandwiches, crackers, chips -- you name it.
Huge thanks to Shefaly Ravula of Shef's Kitchen for sharing this recipe with us. For more information on Shefaly and Shef's Kitchen classes, contact shefskitchen@gmail.com.
¼ cup raw unsalted peanuts
1 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
½ serrano chili pepper, coarsely chopped, seeds and all
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped peeled gingerroot
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
½ cup water
Method:
1. Place peanuts in a blender or mini-chopper and grind to a medium-fine powder.
2. Transfer ground peanuts to a blender if you ground them in the mini-chopper.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend well, adding more water if necessary.
Notes:
This chutney is very versatile. You can use it as a spread as in a panini sandwich or in a cucumber tea sandwich. You can use it as a dipping sauce for samosas or papadums. You can use it as one of many chutneys/sauces used in traditional Indian street/snack foods such as chaat or bhel-puri.
You can freeze the chutney in small containers or ice cube trays. Just thaw it out in the refrigerator.
The peanuts add flavor and act as a thickener. You can substitute daliya (dry roasted chana dal) if you wish or if you are nut-allergic. Add fresh mint leaves for a refreshing summer chutney.
Copyright 2009 Shefaly Ravula
You will love the play of textures and flavors in this dish. Make it as a refreshing alternative to hummus or baba ganoush.
Serves 6 as an appetizer
1 1/2 pounds eggplant
1/2 teaspoon garlic, chopped very fine
1/2 cup red bell pepper, cut in 1/3 inch cubes
1/4 cup yellow bell pepper, cut in 1/3 inch cubes
1/2 cup cucumber, cut in 1/3 inch cubes
1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt
Wash the eggplant and roast it over a charcoal grill, a gas burner of the broiler of an oven. When the skin on the side next to the flame is blackened and the eggplant has become soft, turn it with a pair of tongs. When all the skin is charred and the entire eggplant is soft and looks as though it had deflated in the heat, remove from the heat and set aside to cool off.
When you can handle the eggplant comfortably, pick off as much of the skin as you can.
Cut the flesh into strips less than 1 inch wide. If there are many blackish seeds, remove them. Put the strips in a colander or a large strainer set over a deep dish to allow all the excess liquid to drain away for at least 30 minutes.
When you see no more liquid being shed, transfer the chopped eggplant to a mixing bowl and toss with all the remaining ingredients, except for the salt. Add the salt just when ready to serve.
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